HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD

Shannon News, 26 November 1926, Page 4

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD

NOVEMBER MEETING. The Horowhenua Power Board met on Tuesday. Present: The chairman (Mr. G. A. Monk) and Messrs Matheson, Gunning, Petherick, Seifert, Vincent, Barber, Boss and C. Kilsby. Current Por Picture Theatre. The proprietor of the Otaki picture theatre wrote asking that the current put through a rectifier be charged at power rates instead of lighting rates. Mr. Matheson said that the picture theatre people all argued that this current was power and not lighting. The point should be cleared up to the satisfaction of the Board. He suggested that a committee be set up to report on the point. The engineer said that the rectifier was used to convert alternating current to direct current for the arc lamps for projecting pictures. Mr. Vincent asked what charge was made when a rectifier was used for' charging batteries. The engineer said that was regarded as power and the power charge made. . v The chairman: A line of demarcation has to be drawn somewhere. If the ultimate result of the current pass- . ed through a rectiffer is to produce power, the power charge is levied. ;,If 1 the ultimate result is lighting" then it is charged as lighting. It might be a fine line, but we have to make a distinction somewhere. The'matter was referred to the chairman and engineer to report upon after enquiry. '' . - ' The Treasurer's Report. The Treasurer reported:— The pay roll for the day includes £1356 16s 5d for the second debenture payable in respect to the second loan of £40,000 from the Government Life Insurance Department. This is due on the 30th instant. Other than this pay-; iinent the list .has only one other aci count which runs into more than two figures, viz., thai; for ranges, £1.57. The '.total to be passed (including the debenture and range account referred to) stands at £2045,14s 2d. Accounts to be confirmed paid since the last meeting of the Board amount to £Bll 7s_ 7d. The principal items are wages £4lB, salaries £247 and railway freights on 246 poles £lll. Since the last meeting of the Board the following amounts have been collected:—Electricity and meter rents £3468 18s lid; penalties

£l2 16s sd, interest on installation £B3 14s, ranges, water-heaters and motors £239 13s, installations and service lines' £383 15s lOd, cottage rents £27 2s 9d; total, £4216 0s lid. Most of the largest September quarterly accounts for electricity both for p'rivate consumers and also for street lighting were paid since last meeting, hence the returns . for electricity and meter rents for the month amount to the respectable sum of £3468. Considering the general shortage of money the returns are very fair indeed. The total amount collected for the present financial year from all sources is over £30,000. Engineer's Eeport. The engineer reported as follows: — »Since last meeting, the number one gang havc'crectcd 32 poles, run four service lines, unloaded three trucks of poles, built a new sub at To Waka Eoad and put the same into service, and made alterations to' the l.t, to suit; made alterations to l.t. at Te Horo; have pulled back the line on Arawhata ." Eoad, after the gale on the 30th October and fitted special blocks to prevent further trouble in the swampy ground; replaced a l.t. pole at ManawatU Heads that was washed out, and also one on the main line at Makerua, on account of 4 slip; completed Paiaki Mill sub, and services and livened up this line; up the Koputaroa Jmb. tower and restrained lines on same; I also assisted pole lorry to lay out poles on Eahui and Manakau South Eoad.

No. 2 Gang have run 14 services, 200 chain's of wire, and erected six poles; have altered l.t. in Paraparaumu and changed four ■ street lamps, and pulled up some services and l.t. at Manawatu Heads; have made alterations to services in Sussex Street on account of P. and T. lines extension and erected a lamp at Domain gates, Levin; erected poliesand lamps at Otaki Sanatorium.. No. 3 Gang have run 17 services and erected four poles; have examined 11,000 volt lines from power house to Shannon sub; attended to general maintenance and main sub station. Electrical fitter.—Has changed transformer at Kuku, Otaki Beach, Waikanac Beach (two); ran one service line; has . reconditioned eight street lamps and four transformers and has attended to general maintenance and faults, and office records.

General.—Weather . conditions have held back construction, and a number of davs have been lost. The Paiaki

Mill line has been completed and put into commission. Poles were laid out on the Eahui line, but the work has been held up in the meantime on account of prospective consumers failing to! take power. A start has been made on- Manakau South Eoad' line, but the gang has been taken off for a few days in order to catch up with a rush of services, wdiieh has just come in. The contractor building the house for the foreman, is now finishing the inside fittings, and should have everything completed within a fortnight. Eahui Eoad. Extension. The chairman explained that the /Sahui Eoad extension was not being gone on with as the promised support (vas not forthcoming and the line would not be a payable one. Mr. Kilsby was sqrry it had been I turned down especially as the poles were on the ground. He asked the Board to see if something could be done to go on with the service. The chairman said that as there was a better-paying load offering they had gone on Avith the installation of that and had left Eahui Eoad in the meantime. He was satisfied it would come in yet and that sufficient - consumers would join up. The proposal had not been turned down. Cost of Eanges. Mr. Petherick said a No. 6 range, which cost £24 in Wellington and the same in the Palmcrston-Oroua district, was being charged for by tho Hbrowhenua Power Board at £27 and he asked how this was. , i The chairman said the Horowhenda charge was for an installed range. There was nothing to prevent a consumer buying a ran gfe anywhere in the cheapest market and having it installed, and the Board .-would supply it with current. , By the time they bought the range in Wellington, paid railage, unpacked and fitted it, and installed it, taking the risk of breakages, they might find that nothing was gained. Taking everything into consideration ranges at £27 were not a particularly payable line. The policy laid down was that no loss should be incurred on any Que line. If a loss was made on. ranges everyone had to bear a share of that, whether a user of a range or not. The same thing' applied to waterheaters. If any person thought they could buy a range or a water-heater to better advantage elsewhere and have it, installed there was j nothing to stop

him. The Board's business was to sell current, not to trade. The Minimum Charge. Mr. Potheriek said he had had complaints that .the meter reader somelimes called "at 'Consumers' houses a few days under the two-monthly iod, with the result rluit the consumer was called upon to pay the minimum late, whereas when the full two-months had expired the minimum would have been consumed. In consequence the, consumer paid for current not used .and. the folloAyiug month' luul to pay for current that, if the meter had been read at the proper time, ywould have gone into the minimum. The chairman said this cut both ways. The visits of'the meter reader might so happen as to -he to the ''consumers'* advantage. Over a year there was not much difference.